Early Access Update V0.8.9

[p]Major Additions
[/p]

• [p]New bonus mission playable via the radio tower after Mission 2 (plays in 2 parts), including a new realistic (and educational) objective that involves using a helicopter to tranquilize a rhino in order to safely and humanely remove the horn, preventing poachers from killing them. This is done in real life as the horns grow back and poachers only want the horn, killing the entire animal for just a few bucks. More information on this real life process can be found here: https://www.savetherhino.org/thorny-issues/de-horning/[/p]
• [p]New enemy Vehicle A.I. module: poachers can now enter the area with their own trucks - complete with A.I. driving, pathfinding and reversing. This can be found in the new mission. An enemy vehicle will first attempt to run you over; if they cannot do that the driver will get out and try to kill you the old fashioned way (with guns).[/p]
• [p]New "Cutscene" module that allows for seperate cinematic events to occur in-game without moving to a new scene or requiring any loading screens. (Seen in the middle of the new mission) [/p]

[p]
Achievements
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• [p]New achievements for completing the bonus mission as well as destroying an enemy vehicle in that mission.[/p]
• [p]New achievement added for fully upgrading your vehicle. (Previously we only had one for upgrading your tires)
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[p]
Inventory & Controls
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• [p]When playing with a keyboard, new "HotKeys" slots are now available in the inventory that allow the player to assign any inventory item to special slots that can then be consumed/activated via the corresponding hotkeys without having to go into the inventory.[/p]
• [p]This can also be used for toggle-based items such as lantern/flashlight/night vision etc for easy access.[/p]
• [p]There are 2 slots that can be used with the "-" and "+" keys on the keyboard without opening the inventory, once assigned.[/p]
• [p]Slots stay assigned, so if you have for example first-aid kits assigned, and you run out - the hotkey will still work for that item as soon as you aqcuire more.[/p]
• [p]Any feedback on this new system is most welcome.[/p]
• [p]I am also looking at making the hotkey buttons bindable once I've cleaned up the menu U.I. a little more.[/p]
• [p]Made first-aid kits unable to be used when health is already at maximum to prevent accidental wasteage. Food items can still be consumed past full health though.
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[p]
Enemy A.I. & Combat Behavior
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• [p]Made enemy A.I. strafe while firing for more engaging combat.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a rare issue with certain tactical enemy A.I. awareness that could cause them to sometimes see you through terrain.[/p]
• [p]Made some enemy ragdoll improvements.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where a single poacher in the Mission 1 camp ambush would patrol out to the first camp where the level started.[/p]
• [p]Made "Carver" enemies that are found carving up animals actually use a knife, and then switch to weapon when alerted, instead of cutting up the animal using their gun.[/p]
• [p]Improved Quality of "Carver" enemy carving animation.[/p]
• [p]Improved the rotation of tactical enemies. (The ones that slide to and stay in a specific location and crouch/fire from cover) [/p]
• [p]Fixed issue with some enemies getting stuck.[/p]
• [p]Increased minimum distance between enemies firing at player.
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[p]
Missions, Sidequests & Progression
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• [p]Fixed issue in Mission 1 which would cause the poacher camp to come to you prematurely if player is messing around with their guns in the camp, or just from the ranger approaching before the player is in the correct range.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue in Mission 2 wave one where the radio transmission refers to 8 enemies but there are clearly only 7.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some internal null reference exception errors relating to waypoint targeting in Mission 2.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue with bonus mission waypoint pointing to the wrong place IF a bonus mission is available after mission 3. This would only currently be caused by the player ignoring the bonus mission after the main mission in Mission 1 or 2, thus forwarding it to the third mission but was still possible.[/p]
• [p]Added notification for completing Chicken Truck sidequest, as previously this relied on the notification produced by the Steam Achievement that you get for completing it which does not allow you to know you have completed it when playing in a subsequent playthrough since you can only get the achievement once unless you manually reset your steam achievements.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some floating meshes in Mission 9 underground tunnel.
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[p]
Wildlife & Animals
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• [p]Improved hippopotamus movement animation and behaviour.[/p]
• [p]Fixed dead zebra in poacher camp one dissapearing before the player gets there due to an optimization bug.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue causing some goats to run with their face aligned to the ground.
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[p]
Weapons
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• [p]Fixed right hand position on Tranquiliser Rifle on-screen view.[/p]
• [p]Balanced Silenced SMG weapon fire sound to be more silent.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a misaligned firing bolt on the silenced SMG.[/p]
• [p]Fixed "Old Faithful" shotgun pickup status not saving in missions, as in it reappearing after loading a game even if the player already collected it from the shed. It will still respawn after missions for ammo harvesting though.[/p]
• [p]Made 2 of the ex-military commander poachers found in Mission 2 Wave 1 look more distinct from each other.
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[p]
Vehicle Systems
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• [p]Fixed bug causing vehicle front axel to dissapear when the player moves up really close while crouching.[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue with engine upgrades actually making the car engine worse.[/p]
• [p]Fixed vehicle issue that caused reversing to sometimes go faster than accelleration with no way to stop.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could cause your car to be frozen until you get out and then in again if you load a save game with your player already inside the vehicle.
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[p]
Environment, Visuals & Effects
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• [p]Improved visibility when using the "Lions Heart" powerup at night. (And in general)[/p]
• [p]Improved appearance & visibility of rain, as well as rain collision splashes.[/p]
• [p]Fixed bug that would cause rain to continue permanently.[/p]
• [p]Improved quality of fire when your vehicle is on fire, to produce a thick black smoke only instead of comical looking fire particles.[/p]
• [p]Blood pools left by enemies now fade in ultra-realistically instead of the cheap scaling effect that was previously used.
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[p]
Audio
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• [p]Balanced music radio station volume better.[/p]
• [p]Added a slight pitch randomization on audio sound effects when consuming inventory items such as food to make it sound less repetitive when using multiple items in succession.[/p]
• [p]Made "Cash" collection sound more balanced, softer, less annoying.
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[p][/p][p]Another update will be out within the next week![/p]